Two doctors from China who were in critical condition due to COVID-19 experienced a change in skin color after surviving the silent killer. Dr. Yi Fan and Dr. Hu Weifeng, both 42-years-old, contracted coronavirus while caring for patients at the Wuhan Central Hospital back in January. The doctors who cared for them said both of […]

Two doctors from China who were in critical condition due to COVID-19 experienced a change in skin color after surviving the silent killer.

Dr. Yi Fan and Dr. Hu Weifeng, both 42-years-old, contracted coronavirus while caring for patients at the Wuhan Central Hospital back in January.

The doctors who cared for them said both of them had to be put on life support, but as a consequence of the treatment to keep them alive their skin became dark. This bizarre change is triggered by an imbalance that occurred when the two patients’ livers were damaged by COVID-19, according to Chinese media.

Dr. Yi before and after treatment. Image Source: CCTV

Both doctors worked with Li Wenliang, the person who was punished for making light of the virus a few months back and died of COVID-19 on February 7.

The two doctors were diagnosed on January 18 and were taken to the Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital. They were transferred twice, as per CCTV, a Chinese state media.

Doctor Yi, who is a cardiologist, survived COVID-19 after he was put on life support (a machine called ECMO) for 39 days.

The ECMO is a last-resort life support procedure that acts as a heart and lungs by pumping oxygen into and out of a person’s body.

Doctor Hu, who is a urologist, was in an even worse condition and he had to stay in bed for 99 days, his doctor noted.

Doctor Li Shusheng – who is caring for both Dr. Yi and Dr Hu – said their skin turned dark due to a type of medicine they were given in the early stages of their recovery process. He noted that one of the drug’s side effects is a person’s skin becoming dark.

Even though he did not specify which drug that is, Doctor Li said both doctors’ skin color should return back to normal as soon as their livers start recovering.

Dr. Hu before and after treatment. Image Source: CCTV

Doctor Yi talked to CCTV from his bed, where he said he had recovered for the most part. He added that he could move in bed as usual but was still having trouble walking without assistance.

‘When I first gained conscious, especially after I got to know about my condition, I felt scared. I had nightmares often,” Dr Yi told a reporter.

Doctor Hu went through ECMO therapy from February 7 to March 22. However, he was not able to speak until April 11. He is currently still in intensive care.

According to Dr. Li, the two doctors are also being given mental health support due to the horrific experiences they went through.

You can see the two doctors in hospital care in the video below.

What are your thoughts on this strange phenomenon? Let us know by joining the conversation in the comments and please share this article to spread the news.

While most of us stay at home practicing social distancing, medical workers are on the frontlines of the war against the coronavirus. Recently, a number of healthcare workers posted pictures of themselves after intense shifts of care for their COVID-19 patients. They can be seen covered from head to toe in protective gear, with heavy […]

While most of us stay at home practicing social distancing, medical workers are on the frontlines of the war against the coronavirus.

Recently, a number of healthcare workers posted pictures of themselves after intense shifts of care for their COVID-19 patients. They can be seen covered from head to toe in protective gear, with heavy protective goggle masks on their faces caused by long-hour shifts.

Many of them have said they don’t consider themselves to be ‘heroes’ but want the world to understand the severity of the situation.

More than 372,000 people from all over the world have been infected with the virus with over 16,000 who have lost their lives so far.

Life-Liberty-Equality shared a post on their Twitter page featuring a number of photos of Italian doctors and nurses on the frontlines of the epidemic.

Some of the Italian doctors and nurses after long shifts in ICU. The marks of pure dedication, selflessness and bravery in the face of a hidden and relatively unknown enemy! Bravo! pic.twitter.com/Vl3AL9jFjY

Doctor Nicola Sgarbi from Italy posted a photo of himself on Facebook on March 13 after spending a 13-hour shift at the ICU treating patients for COVID-19.

‘I don’t love selfies. Yesterday, though, I took this photo. After 13 hours in ICU after taking off all my protective devices, I took a selfie,’ he wrote on Facebook.

‘I am not and I don’t feel like a hero. I am a normal person, who loves his job and who, now more than ever, is proud and proud to do it by giving all himself on the forefront lines together with other wonderful people (doctors, nurses, technicians, cleaners).’

She stressed the importance of social distancing in order to protect the most vulnerable among us.

What are your thoughts on the coronavirus epidemic? Let us know by joining the discussion in the comments and please share this article to let others know of the brave work of our doctors and nurses out there.

The #nosehairextensions tag on Instagram is apparently blowing up with stories of people who have decided that long nostril hair is sexy, so they are actually putting eyelash extensions around their nostrils, apparently so as to be uber sexy. This is an interesting trend, the visual-shock factor aside. We have long been obsessed with keeping […]

The #nosehairextensions tag on Instagram is apparently blowing up with stories of people who have decided that long nostril hair is sexy, so they are actually putting eyelash extensions around their nostrils, apparently so as to be uber sexy.

This is an interesting trend, the visual-shock factor aside. We have long been obsessed with keeping nostril hair out of sight. We have nose hair trimmers -some even look like ray guns- along with scissors, razors and an assortment of other unsightly-hair-trimming objects. How did this trend evolve?

While it seems a lot of people, women especially, are doing it for the ‘gram, is it really as hot a trend as these IGers would like to think? One IG user, javiersototv, even touts it as the latest emerging beauty trend. Despite a few negative comments on her post, it got 114 likes, too.

Personally, I just want to know why. If you’re showing solidarity for something greater than a so-called trend, if you’re doing it to raise money for a non-profit organization or charity, I’m on board. The actual trend itself though? You couldn’t pay me enough to put any kind of extensions on my nose. Why it reared its head again in 2019 is little bit beyond me.

Regardless of how it happened (most people credit Insta user @gret_chen_chen for it, as she posted the first photos of herself with nose hair extensions back in 2017), doctors aren’t crazy about this new trend. The Cleveland Clinic states that while real nostril hair has a purpose, like catching dust and germs so they don’t get to you, nose hair extensions are actually unhelpful, and can hinder the performance of your real nose hair. Because they require glue to be applied properly, when the glue is removed, it my also remove some of your real nostril hair (ouch!!), which you need for the purposes listed above.

A post shared by 𝙷𝚎𝚢𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚡𝚡𝚡 (@heygorgeousxxx) on Oct 19, 2017 at 9:07pm PDT

Maybe this trend should just be left to die and we can all move on to something better, after all. Or perhaps it should be spread more broadly, used by more people. Maybe it could become a signature for a new civil rights movement, or equal pay, or…just about anything other than what it actually is. When social movements evolve they can sometimes take different forms, change radically from where they began. Almost anything can happen.

The weight-loss device, AspireAssist, was approved by the FDA last week, and has left more than a few doctors feeling appalled. Buy an “Intelligence is sexy” t-shirt! If you haven’t heard of AspireAssist, you might be wondering what the big deal is. What could possibly be upsetting enough to get nearly 1,000 doctors together with a […]

If you haven’t heard of AspireAssist, you might be wondering what the big deal is. What could possibly be upsetting enough to get nearly 1,000 doctors together with a unified purpose of suing the FDA? The group of 750 doctors, coordinated by Joseph Gutman, an endocrinologist and diabetologist in Pembroke Pines, Florida, want the FDA to take the device off the market. According to these doctors, the device is dangerous- for both mental and physical reasons.

AspireAssist is a weight-loss device unlike any other, and at first glance, it seems to merely be ‘mechanized bulimia.’ The FDA press release describes the process as such: “To place the device, surgeons insert a tube in the stomach with an endoscope via a small incision in the abdomen. A disk-shaped port valve that lies outside the body, flush against the skin of the abdomen, is connected to the tube and remains in place. Approximately 20 to 30 minutes after meal consumption, the patient attaches the device’s external connector and tubing to the port valve, opens the valve and drains the contents. Once opened, it takes approximately five to 10 minutes to drain food matter through the tube and into the toilet. The device removes approximately 30 percent of the calories consumed.”

That’s right, the AspireAssist’s purpose is to remove food you have already consumed via an alternative route to the natural exit port our bodies are equipped with. Bulimia is simply too messy, and can cause catastrophic damage to your teeth and gums. Might as well have an eating disorder the “correct” way- the way in which the FDA can profit.

Joseph Gutman told The Verge, “This is the first time that I looked at a device that was approved by the FDA and I am absolutely, utterly, and totally appalled that it was approved. It is the most pathetic exhibition of ignorance on the part of our agency, the FDA. It is nothing but a bad trick. It’s like a bad joke.”

“Instead of throwing up through the throat, you throw up through the tube,” Gutman says. “This is mechanized bulimia. It’s a device that makes bulimia okay.”

It’s easy to see why Gutman is concerned. Besides the obvious implications of contributing to a bigger problem, the device has several physical side effects, including death. Merely having the gastric tube implanted can cause “sore throat, pain, abdominal bloating, indigestion, bleeding, infection, nausea, vomiting, sedation-related breathing problems, inflammation of the lining of the abdomen, sores on the inside of the stomach, pneumonia, unintended puncture of the stomach or intestinal wall and death.” The abdominal opening, or port valve, has it’s fair share of horrible risks as well, as does having the port valve removed. Persistent fistula, an abnormal passageway between the stomach and the abdominal wall is just one of those risks.

After only a year of testing AspireAssist with a small clinical trial of 111 participants, the FDA determined the device to be safe, causing the experts to worry about unknown long-term effects. “There’s no scientific basis in the long term as to what this does,” Gutman says. “The studies are incomplete.”

The company that developed AspireAssist, Aspire Bariatrics, says the device must be accompanied with healthy lifestyle choices in order to properly work. The ‘lifestyle program’ they implement in a mandatory fashion requires that one chews their food 55-75 times before swallowing. They believe this leads to an effect of feeling fuller, sooner, and with less food. In fact, the company says the device won’t contribute to eating disorders because of this one aspect.

Doctors like Gutman are not so easily convinced. “I think that the logic of the device is insane. I don’t think it makes any medical or physiologic sense,” he says. “It’s crazier than Trump for president.”

The FDA, and the companies they approve, make their profit from illnesses- not cures. Eating healthier foods, doing moderate exercise, and yes, even chewing your food more, will help you lose weight. It won’t happen overnight, but nothing worthwhile ever happened instantly.

Currently, there are over 79 million Americans suffering from obesity, so it’s easy to see how something like this could get approved as a ‘medical device.’ Just for a moment though, can we be honest about this whole thing?

We, as a society, have an image problem. We focus more on being thin than we do on being healthy. We want to be liked and loved for who we are, yet we believe our outward appearance reigns supreme overall. We are constant contradictions who lack convictions; following matchstick gods until they burn us all with their flames.

*This piece was written by Raven Fon and does not necessarily reflect the thoughts and beliefs of I Heart Intelligence, or any member of the I Heart Intelligence staff.*

When I first read about the concept of certain food cravings being a sign that your body was lacking a certain vitamin or mineral, I thought to myself, “usually my body wanting a cookie means that my body is low on cookies.” Food cravings have nothing to do with hunger Food cravings are an interesting […]

When I first read about the concept of certain food cravings being a sign that your body was lacking a certain vitamin or mineral, I thought to myself, “usually my body wanting a cookie means that my body is low on cookies.”

Food cravings have nothing to do with hunger

Food cravings are an interesting topic of research, actually. For one thing, they have nothing to do with actual hunger. Rather, these are powerful signals of our brain that the body is running low of an important nutrient or chemical compound. That being said, the connection between the brain and the gut is the vagus nerve, which tells us when it’s time to grab a snack or have a three-course meal.

Hunger is a survival mechanism whereby the brain signals that it’s time we put something in the stomach in the interest of our own survival. A craving, on the other hand, is a signal that you are being stressed up and need something to comfort you.

Chocolate is the most craved food

One of the most common examples I have found is the craving for chocolate. Supposedly, a craving for chocolate is a sign that your body is low on magnesium (see the table below). As it turns out, raw cacao is one of the most naturally magnesium-rich foods there is. Now, I mention this example because I have some personal experience to share.

I do not have a sweet tooth, but I sometimes get intense cravings for chocolate completely out of the blue. They are so strong that sometimes I drive to a convenience store at 3 in the morning for a bag of M&M’s.

Read your body’s signals right

Some time ago I had blood tests as part of a routine medical checkup and found that the level of magnesium in my body had been very low. I didn’t make the connection at the time, but when I saw the chart below, it clicked.

Now, I am not a medical doctor, but I think that our body’s natural signals should not be neglected. It’s almost like a conditioned response that our bodies develop over time. When you eat a certain food, your body gets certain nutrients it has been lacking. Then, when need arises, it urges you to replenish the depot of that nutrient.

BUT, the brain being the weird little animal it is, would rather crave chocolate instead of another natural source of magnesium like broccoli. I think there hardly is anybody out there who’s been having cravings for broccoli. I do hope that this article will help you read the craving signals right and make healthier food choices.

The table says it all

The chart below has been taken from PreventDisease.com. It provides healthy alternatives to some of the most common food cravings. Coming back to my midnight M&Ms trips to the convenience store, I am thinking of how much I could have saved on gas, if I had known about this table back then!

Anytime I am around anyone under the age of, oh let’s say 25, I am astonished by how much time they spend glued to screens. Phone screens. Tablet screens. Tv screens. It’s almost as if you out a moving image on a flat surface, people can’t take their eyes off of it. The phenomenon is […]

Anytime I am around anyone under the age of, oh let’s say 25, I am astonished by how much time they spend glued to screens. Phone screens. Tablet screens. Tv screens.

It’s almost as if you out a moving image on a flat surface, people can’t take their eyes off of it. The phenomenon is even worse for children. As it turns out, kids are also more adversely affected by their addictions to their screens.

It is becoming more and more common these days for children to be diagnosed with major mental disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, and ADHD.As children are being diagnosed with these conditions, doctors and parents alike are scrambling to find the source of these mental conditions in standard places like the family environment and surroundings. The truth to the rise in the prevalence of these conditions might lie right in the children’s hands: cellphones and tablets.

The Impacts of Screen Time

There have been several studies that show that staring at a screen before trying to sleep messes with even adult sleep cycles. The reasoning is that the screens suppress the body’s natural release of melatonin. Melatonin is crucial for your body to slip into it’s natural sleep cycle, so when it’s not released properly, our sleep cycles get oh of whack. Aside from a myriad of other health problems, moodiness and depression are both linked to poor sleep cycles. Not to mention exhaustion, which can make kids and adults both unmotivated and lethargic.

Screen Addiction

If you really want to freak a kid out, take away their mobile device. Children are experiencing the same addictive qualities that drug users experience. Chemically, the dependence is based on dopamine release in the brain. Just like with drug addicts, children can build up dopamine sensitivities that affect mood and motivation.

Sensory Overload

Even as seemingly harmless as games can seem on a mobile device or tablet, they are basically a full-on assault on the senses. One of the major things that lead to anger issues and frustration in kids is a lack of focus. When children’s minds are so entangled at keeping up with the latest game or app, they lose the ability to focus on anything else around them. The real world basically becomes an annoyance.

Lifestyle Impacts

Essentially, the more time a kid spends looking at a screen, the less time they are being active. When is the last time you saw a group of kids running around a park with a tablet or cell phone in their hands?

The Solution Quite simply: Turn Them Off. In severe cases of screen addiction, there might have to be a weening process to an extent. In the end, the solution is still the same. Children’s time with tablets and mobile devices should be limited.

At the begging of a new year, people always look back on the previous year and recollect the highlights of the previous 365 days. Usually, the focus is on things like the best songs or the best movies, but what about things that matter like the best discoveries or scientific breakthroughs? In honor of my […]

At the begging of a new year, people always look back on the previous year and recollect the highlights of the previous 365 days. Usually, the focus is on things like the best songs or the best movies, but what about things that matter like the best discoveries or scientific breakthroughs? In honor of my favorite topics of research, here are the 6 best discoveries pertaining to the field of neuroscience in 2015:Buy an “Intelligence is sexy” t-shirt!

1. Memories can be Erased

As scientists get closer to mapping out the neurons that are responsible for memories, the potential exists to download, upload, and even erase memories. Doctors at the Scripps Research Institute did a study in 2015 that found a new drug that has the potential to selectivly delete memories associated with drug addiction. According to Dr. Courtney Miller, “When the person is in-patient, they’d use this treatment once and it would target those drug-associated memories that could be triggers for them. Later on, when they’re back in the real world, the memories wouldn’t serve as triggers because they’d be gone.”

2. Immune System is Directly Tied to Mental Function

Researchers at the University of Virginia found a direct connection between the immune system and brain function that, until now, was unknown. What they found was a network of lymphatic vessels in the brain that were previously thought to only exist at the base of the skull. Dr. Jonathan Kipnis said, “”When we discovered the lymphatic vessels, we were very, very surprised, because based on the textbooks — these vessels do not exist.”
Read: The Amazing Neuroscience of Drummers

3. Direct Correlation in Brain Health and Gut Health

Researchers discovered that by balancing the healthy bacteria in your gut, certain symptoms of depression and anxiety could be lessened, or even treated. The results were based on a study that involved people eating fermented foods to increase healthy gut bacteria, and the impact the gut bacteria had on anxiety and depression. One of the co-authors of the study, Dr. Matthew Hilimire said, “It is likely that the probiotics in the fermented foods are favorably changing the environment in the gut, and changes in the gut in turn influence social anxiety. I think that it is absolutely fascinating that the microorganisms in your gut can influence your mind.”

4. Pollution Effects Brain in Ways we Didn’t Know

In a surprising find, researchers discovered that pollution could actually be increasing the aging process in the brain, contributing to conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. They found that by increases in pollution caused a decrease in “white matter” in the brain, essentially shrinking them. According to Arron Reuben, “The evidence so far suggests that pollution could be the most pervasive potential cause of brain disease that scientists have ever discovered.”
Read: Optogenetics: The Revolution of Neuroscience

5. Sleep Plays Important Role in Emotional Stability

We all know that a lack of sleep can make a person grumpy, but new research last year suggests that sleep also plays an important role in emotional intelligence. The research found that without enough good sleep, people’s ability to process emotional responses appropriately were severely dulled. According to their findings, “It’s almost as though, without sleep, the brain… was unable to put emotional experiences into context and produce controlled, appropriate responses. Emotionally, you’re not on a level playing field.”

The International Summit on Human Gene Editing convened to ask one major question: How far should scientists be allowed to go when they edit human DNA? Hundred’s of scientist from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C, on December 1-3, 2015, to discuss scientific, medical, ethical, and governance issues associated with recent advances in human […]

The International Summit on Human Gene Editing convened to ask one major question: How far should scientists be allowed to go when they edit human DNA? Hundred’s of scientist from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C, on December 1-3, 2015, to discuss scientific, medical, ethical, and governance issues associated with recent advances in human gene-editing research. Some say this was a historic meeting to debate one of the most controversial subjects in science today. Almost 500 scientists, doctors, bioethicists, legal experts, historians, patient advocates, and others gathered in this summit sponsored by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, U.S. National Academy of Medicine and Co-hosted with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the U.K.’s Royal Society. To debate about ‘How far should scientists go when editing human DNA?’

Nobel laureate David Baltimore of the California Institute of Technology said “We could be on the cusp of a new era in human history,” He further said that “The overriding question is when, if ever, would we want to use gene editing to change human inheritance?”

The main focus of this summit was should scientists be allowed to use powerful new genetic engineering techniques to edit genes in human eggs, sperm or embryos – as this could raise a host of thorny safety and ethical issues. Hundreds of scientists and ethicists from 20 countries who attended the summit believe that the new tools to edit the human genetic code will produce many benefits, such as finding new ways to prevent and treat diseases.

These tools are planned to edit genes inside living cells, to slice and repair or replace specific sections of DNA which allows scientists to make very precise changes in DNA much more easily than ever before. This is much like a biological version of the cut-and-paste feature in a word processing software. For instance, CRISPR-Cas9 is a fast, cheap and powerful new genetic engineering techniques to edit genes in human eggs, sperm or embryos. Scientists believe that these new techniques will help to prevent and treat diseases, including AIDS, cancer and Alzheimer’s.

On the contrary, the ability to edit DNA using these new techniques are raising many fears as mistakes in this gene editing could inadvertently introduce new diseases into the human gene pool and can be passed down to future generations. Though this could help prevent and treat many inherited diseases, including Huntington’s disease, cystic fibrosis, and Tay-Sachs disease. Creating children who are smarter, taller, smarter or have other supposedly desirable traits is also an raising fear.

“I think enhancement will creep in the door in terms of treating serious diseases,” said George Church of Harvard University.

Nobel laureate David Baltimore of the California Institute of Technology said, “We sense that we are close to being able to alter human heredity.”

The laws and guidelines vary widely between different countries about what germline, or hereditary, research is allowed. Some ban any research; some allow only lab research but not pregnancies; some have no policies. In the U.S., the National Institutes of Health won’t fund germline research but private funding is allowed.

What one country attempts “will have consequences in others,” the White House’s John P. Holdren noted.

Sarah Gray of the American Association of Tissue Banks said, “If you have the skills and the knowledge to fix these diseases, then freaking do it.” Her son suffered before dying of a genetic disorder six days after he was born.

Many scientists said it’s not too early to consider the biggest ethical quandary: Should they be allowed to edit human DNA?

Keeping a simple journal is one of those things that I’ve always recommended to people throughout the years. There is just something about taking the time to put pen to paper that’s always been therapeutic to me. As it turns out, journaling is one of the best things you can do not only for your […]

Keeping a simple journal is one of those things that I’ve always recommended to people throughout the years. There is just something about taking the time to put pen to paper that’s always been therapeutic to me. As it turns out, journaling is one of the best things you can do not only for your mind but for your body as well.Buy an “Intelligence is sexy” t-shirt!

Back in 1986, researchers Pennebaker and Beall did a study involving college students writing for 15 minutes about traumatic events in their lives for 4 days in a row. A control group was established of students who just wrote about inane topics like their shoes or describing the room for the same amount of time and the same number of sessions. The students who wrote about the traumatic events in their lives showed better self-assessed and objectively reported physical health 4 months later. They even went to the doctor less and missed fewer days of school. According to the researchers, “writing about earlier traumatic experience was associated with both short-term increases in physiological arousal and long-term decreases in health problems.”

In an article on BJPsych Advances, researchers Karen A. Baikie and Kay Wilhelm did a complete study of the research into effects of expressional writing. Based on the results from several different studies they have concluded: “The immediate impact of expressive writing is usually a short-term increase in distress, negative mood and physical symptoms, and a decrease in positive mood compared with controls. Expressive writing participants also rate their writing as significantly more personal, meaningful and emotional. However, at longer-term follow-up, many studies have continued to find evidence of health benefits in terms of objectively assessed outcomes, self-reported physical health outcomes, and self-reported emotional health outcomes.”Read: Legalities of Psilocybin Research are Preventing New Treatments for Depression

Research into the effects of expressive writing on the body and mind is opening new avenues of treatment for many different conditions. Instead of taking a drug to deal with stress, it’s amazing to know that something as simple as writing about what is stressing you can be a more effective treatment. Then again, as a writer, I might be a little biased. The research doesn’t lie, though.

One late night in 2001, a mother of three from Utah was nursing her 1-month old baby when she suddenly collapsed with a suspected stroke. By the next night after having been taken to hospital and suffering a further stroke, Nissa Smith couldn’t talk or move despite the fact she was fully aware of everything […]

One late night in 2001, a mother of three from Utah was nursing her 1-month old baby when she suddenly collapsed with a suspected stroke. By the next night after having been taken to hospital and suffering a further stroke, Nissa Smith couldn’t talk or move despite the fact she was fully aware of everything that was going on around her. Nissa fell victim to locked-in syndrome, a nightmarish condition which usually results from damage to the brainstem following a stroke.Buy an “Intelligence is sexy” t-shirt!
As Nissa lay lifeless in a hospital bed, apparently brain-dead, but in truth she was still fully conscious. Doctors feared the worst and told her family she would never recover and that they should allow her to die, as that would be the most humane decision.
But that’s when one nurse came in and said that she saw a spark in her eyes that made her believe that Nissa was still there. “If you can hear me, close your eyes twice,” the nurse asked Nissa. Nissa very slowly was able to close her eyes twice.
Within just a few hours, the nurses and family members learned to communicate with Nissa through blinking their eyes. Nissa, in turn, began to feel hope again and over the months that followed was slowly able to regain a lot of her movement and speaking abilities.
Though Nissa still speaks and walks with some difficulty, her amazing recovery continues to baffle her doctors. All thanks to the one very intuitive nurse who didn’t give up on her. Nissa lives at home with her three daughters and relishes in watching them grow up.